Fresh off long road trip, Bolts ready for a bye week

LaDainian Tomlinson and Chris Chambers sit on the bench as Vincent Jackson and Philip Rivers watch from the sidelines as the Chargers lose to the New Orleans Saints at Wembley Stadium in London Sunday.
— K.C. Alfred

LaDainian Tomlinson and Chris Chambers sit on the bench as Vincent Jackson and Philip Rivers watch from the sidelines as the Chargers lose to the New Orleans Saints at Wembley Stadium in London Sunday.
— K.C. Alfred

Not just the odd odyssey from which the Chargers returned Monday two-time losers. Oh, what a long, strange trip it was to Buffalo and London. (Really, did that happen?)

But no, the Chargers are thankful moreover that the first half of the season is finished and the bye week is upon them.

The week off – they'll practice Wednesday and Thursday – will be, they hope, a sort of partition between what has occurred and what will.

“It's good,” strong safety Clinton Hart said. “We went through the worst things a team can go through – from the first two games to all the expectations of us. We've (gone) through everything you can go through. Now it's time to get this thing flipped around and learn from everything. It will make us or break us. We've got to stick together. That's the only way we're going to get it done.”

Expect, by the way, to hear variations of old reliable – “Us against the world” – coming now from Chargers Park. This team has been favored in almost every game so far. It'll be the favorite again, for sure, but it will latch on to its fall from favor. It's what teams do.

The only thing saving the Chargers (3-5) is that AFC West leader Denver isn't running away. The Broncos (4-3) were off Sunday and will either be one or two games ahead after they host Miami at the end of this week.

“You take the bye to get mentally straight,” outside linebacker Jyles Tucker said. “We've got the talent. All it's going to take is the mental part and everyone getting back on the same page.”

Yes, the Chargers are still convinced they lead the league in elite individuals.

“Absolutely,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “Being the most talented don't get it done, though. That never wins a championship.”

Like all his brethren, Gates could only shake his head when asked what it is that has the Chargers mired in something less than even mediocrity.

Only one of their losses has been by more than a touchdown, that by nine points. All together, their five losses have come by a combined 24 points.

So close, so far? Only time will tell.

“It shouldn't be,” Gates said of the Chargers' record. “This will be a good judge of character. You will be able to tell how guys come out and compete.”

Running back LaDainian Tomlinson tried to be his usual philosophical self as he spoke late Sunday night. But he seemed somewhat at a loss, not quite sure what to make of this predicament and what will happen now.

The bye, he agrees, comes at a good time, but

“It's one thing to say that and another thing to do it and come back and get on a run, play good football and win games,” he said. “That's what we need to do.”

How could he be more confident than that with this team?

“It's hard to tell,” Tomlinson said. “The biggest thing is the inconsistency we're playing with. You don't know which team you're going to get every week. We have to find a way to correct it.”

They clearly need the week off. Sunday, as they dressed and departed Wembley Stadium, many Chargers appeared more weary and traumatized than they had been in a long time.

Surely, the surreal nature of having traveled across an ocean to another continent had something to do with it.

Among the positives as the first half ebbs is that Gates and Tomlinson are close to full health.

Gates caught six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown in the loss to New Orleans. Tomlinson ran 19 times for 105 yards and caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, starting and stopping, turning and pulling away better than he has all season.

Tomlinson said he will not practice this week and then return to full weeks of practice, something he's done just once since spraining his big toe in the opener.

The Chargers will come back to play 1-6 Kansas City, one of five home games in the final eight. Nothing could possibly have sounded better to them at this point.

“We've got things in our favor to get back to where we need to be – the fact we're at home more than anything,” Castillo said. “We've got the bye and then all those home games.”

Said coach Norv Turner, who along with his staff will work this week not only on the Chiefs but on figuring out what's missing: “We've got to make the most of this bye. Physically and mentally, we've got to heal. ... Our situation is such that we're in a division we can still go and have some success.”